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Posts Tagged ‘network’

What is a Botnet?

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

In the internet age there are many new issues of security to worry about. One of them is the botnet. A botnet is a network of computers that carry malware. The network can be a composition of robots or software applications that are run either automatically, or autonomously. They can be set up by a smart user and wreak havoc on the internet market. Most botnets are set up to retrieve information that brings them a good financial return. Normally they want email addresses and then sell them to third-parties for a hefty profit. Ever wonder how your email address is targeted by so many “strange” emails? It is possible that a bot was the culprit.

So why aren’t the creators of these botnet networks stopped? Well it isn’t easy. Remember that the online world is largely anonymous. You theoretically could set up a website today and use a fake name, PO box number, rented 800-number and alias email. It could then be up and running within anywhere between 24 to 72 hours. All you have to do then is to drive traffic to the website with some advertised special, or simple marketing technique. Then you can ask for money for a service from visitors. If they give it to you in return for something, you close your doors once you get the money and you can be gone within a few hours. Of course this is illegal, but it has happened thousands of times in the market– particularly in past years when the internet was first developing. Gamers weren’t yet seasoned enough to protect themselves and fell for the realistic and viable “products” or “service” being offered to them.

In today’s market botnets are still prevalent, though they are masked quite nicely these days. Just like online users have gotten more wise, so have companies that want to take advantage of them. There are now ways of getting around the watchdogs and botnet networks know how to utilize covert tactics to go unrecognized. For example, a network no longer sends out mass emails, but rather sends out a few thousand. It is much harder for regulators to find them if they are moving in semi-small numbers. There are changes in the market and reliable progammers are trying to catch up with the botnet networks, but it will take time. As long as there are people working on them, it will take an equally strong force to fight against them.

Online Gambling Network Becoming a Reality

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Many US states have huge deficits. It’s no secret that the recession was hard on the economy and though there are small signs of change, it still isn’t anywhere near returning to pre-recessionary models. California is a state that was particularly hard-hit by the recession. It had a huge deficit prior to the economy’s fall and after it was much worse off. Their deficit reached unparallelled proportions. Now the state’s legislators are waiting for options to help spur the economy back to growth or at minimum to bring in millions of dollars that are needed to have even a slim chance of recovery.

The state’s legislators are now talking about formalizing an online gambling network. The purpose would be to join the state in an effort to maximize the amount of funds that are coming in due to gambling. Thirty-five analysts came together recently to discuss the issue’s pros and cons of legalizing the network. It was interesting because there issue was delved into from both perspectives. Though many legislators are pro-gambling, the meeting was to allow both sides the equal amount of time to state their cases. One entity that was present and hoping to bring the positives of gambling to the world was the Morongo Indian Tribe. The Tribe owns the casinos in the area and is now making a move to go online. The reality is that the tribe has suffered great declines in revenue since the recession and they are finding online gambling as a direct competitor. Their belief is that if they can’t compete with online gambling, then why not get into it? The Tribe is hoping they can be instrumental in building the online gambling network and share in its spoils. People are not gambling in land-based casinos like they used to and Tribal leaders know if they don’t do something drastic they could face more financial strain for a lot longer.

Only time will tell where gambling is going from here, but most likely California will do whatever it takes to legalize and properly regulate gambling. The network would be the easiest way to saturate the entire state with gambling but still have a handle on how it is grown in the market.

The Tie Between Social Networking and Gambling

Friday, August 13th, 2010

There are two things in the market that are growing exponentially: social networking and gambling. if you look at the growth of either rover the past few years you are going to be astounded by the changes. Not only do people use social networking to communicate with each other and find old friends, but now companies are using the tool to promote and build their own brands. It is a great way to get your name out there and if a business owner can handle the job him or herself, they can save thousands of dollars in advertising dollars.

On the other hand there is also the growth in online gambling. The convenience of gambling out of your own home has taken over. More and more people are logging into their computer and laptop, rather than traveling to land-based casinos. And those online casinos are creating even better bonuses to encourage more and more gamers to pick them over “real” casinos. The strategy is working and online casinos are growing in popularity at startling rates.

So how do the two come together? Well, anyone who is a fan of social networking and using it knows about Facebook. Facebook is a tool in the market that itself has seen huge growth. It boasts millions of users who post updates on what they are doing, along with personal information. Facebook’s managers just announced that they are hiring a gaming manager. It will be his or her job to develop and enhance the current relationships held with gaming programmers and providers. The company recently estimated that about 200 million Facebook users also play the games offered at the website. This is a huge market and to keep them happy, the Facebook team wants to build a better online experience for customers who want to game. They would like to offer a top-notch listing of games for customers to partake in, along with possibly earning more revenue from the games in the future. Once the deal is done, Facebook could take in about one third of the revenues that come in from gaming on the website.

Cake Poker Offers Anonymity in Poker Play

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Cake Poker Network is a huge affiliation that is consistently growing the number of online casinos that it works with. The company just announced its inclusion of five new poker websites: Come On, Unleashed Poker, Wings Poker, Broadway Tables and PokerXRC. Each casino website has a huge following and the joining of forces will only make Cake Poker network stronger. In addition, the network has some unique offerings in terms of anonymity for the poker players who log in. one of the issues some poker players have had in the past is history-tracking. Some websites track performance and players who do particularly well are targeted. They can have a competitive advantage over other players and it is possible for them to do better as a result. They can walk away with the bigger payouts or last longer in competitions. Cake Poker is taking care of that issue though. The casino announced that anyone gambling on any of its member websites has the ability to change their usernames every week. This means that they can remain mostly anonymous as they work on their own skill and technique at playing poker.

In addition, Cake Poker Network is having a great time due to its overwhelming inclusion of various poker websites. If you want true variety in gaming, joining in a network like this one can be the best decision to make. It offers tons of unique play and you can pick and choose what you want to accomplish for your gaming session that day. If you are looking for a big payout, then pick games that have the numbers you want. You can also find games that require lower buy-ins, but remember that lower buy-ins generally mean lower payouts. It isn’t a 100%-rule, but it is somewhat stable in the market of gambling. On the other hand, if you are looking to just play for a few hours and have fun, then you should easily find a casino belonging to the Cake Network. Their casinos are diverse enough that you are going to find one, maybe more, online virtual casino that you love to play at.

PlayStation Network Down for Online Betters

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

One of the most reliable things in the online world is gaming. Players who love PlayStation know that they can log into the network and participate in a wide range of games with players all over the world. Still that reliability is not without fault. Earlier this month the company’s network was down causing millions of users to have to skip their post-work pastime of gaming. The PlayStation network announced to its users via a website message that its network would be down for maintenance, however it wasn’t posted until users tried to log in. Many left the website frustrated due to no forewarning of the issue or the amount of time that it would take to maintain the servers.

The PlayStation console is not only a staple in many gamers’ everyday lives, but it also has become a tool they use to place bets on games. Baseball for example is an American pastime that the PlayStation takes wagers on throughout the season. Millions of users log in to put money on the outcome of games and the season-ending winners. The popularity of the consol is indicative of where the market is going in terms of online casino gaming and wagering. The application’s timeout for maintenance caused more than a small hubbub in the market and many users were not happy that they had to turn to other means of gaming for the entire 24-hour period the company needed for service. That was a large window of time to require gamers to be off the system.

In the future PlayStation officials stated they would take more precautions to notify gamers of their plans and give them more time to plan accordingly. In addition, they stated via a press release that they would be modifying their upgrades to shorter periods of time when gamers could not log in. Rather than taking an entire day to maintain the applications, they would opt for three sessions of downtime that last for a few hours. Hopefully the changes will be positive for gamers and wagers will still be able to be made in the world of online sports betting via the PlayStation console.

Poker Brings its Own Social Network to the Internet

Friday, June 4th, 2010

One of the biggest changes in the online market in the past ten years has been the popularity of social networking. Social networking comes in the form of MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and a wide range of other tools used by online users to communicate. It has become one of the most popular ways of finding jobs, friends, dates and services. Now social networking is moving into the world of poker play!

The casino website CardPlayer.com has just created a social network called CPSocial. All you have to do is create your own profile that includes a picture, basic information and your poker screen name. You can hook it up to your Twitter account. The best thing about the website is that it allows for an activity feed that shows other players what you are doing, how well you are playing, and you comments you type into your profile. It is somewhat a carbon copy of Twitter in that you can update people on your status easily.

If you love to blog, then this is the perfect website for you. On your profile you can blog to your heart’s content on the latest poker playing and tournaments you have participated in. You also can post your results and check your leaderboard online with ease. There are other tools like helpful hints and entries from poker professionals like Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. Each one chimes in on the best habits to have when playing professional poker. It is an overall advantage to be able to talk to a wide range of players and network with them. They can steer you in the right direction in terms of what casinos to play at, what bonuses are out there and what additional specials are happening in the world of online casinos.

If you have ever seen how quickly news is spread online, then this is going to follow suit well. You will see how instantaneously people will be updated on the various deals out there. Big name tournaments will be advertised as quickly as a new product is on Twitter.com. Check out CPSocial.com and see for yourself how fun this new tool is when it comes to sharing online poker information.

Facebook Announced Gambling Advertisers are Banned

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Facebook is a popular social media website that has gained popularity quickly. It has millions of members who post their pictures, profiles and contact information. They can search for people they know and locate them. They can post comments to people’s profiles, called “walls.” Overall it’s a great tool to keep up with friends and network for business. More and more businesses are using Facebook as a means to promote and recruit. In 2010, the internet is the way to go in terms of bringing in employees and meeting new people.

Because of its hefty membership, Facebook also has a wide variety of advertisers who pay top dollar to post their product on the website. Facebook charges a good amount of money for a small ad and more recently it has been getting requests to advertise gambling. In a surprise move, the website announced recently that it would be eliminating online gambling advertisements on the website. By making the move to ban online gambling advertisers, the website is basically saying that online gambling is the same as tobacco and firearms—both of which are also not allowed on the website. The main reason the website is banning gambling advertisers is because of its customer base.  Most of its customers are young and the website is arguing that with such a young customer base, it needs to draw a line when it comes to who advertises and what products are promoted.

Facebook listed gambling under its “prohibited content” and the definition of that according to the website is, “gambling, including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo or poker.” It’s a bold move for the website to make since online gambling is so popular and only showing signs of a greater acceptance due to moves to legalize and regulate the industry. In addition, gambling has gained a new mainstream acceptance throughout the world in past years. And thanks to events like the WSOP, gambling has only increased in popularity. Interestingly, the WSOP has mainstream corporate sponsorship. That’s why the move by Facebook to ban gambling advertisers was a surprise to most industry insiders. Only time will tell of operators of the social networking website will change its mind, but for now, gambling is prohibited.